BISON FOSSIL GOES ON DISPLAY

Finding from roadwork site a first in Southern California

San Diego 
A fossilized ice age bison that was recently discovered at a Caltrans construction site in North County will be unveiled today at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

The fossil was unearthed near Pala Mesa during construction on the state Route 76 east project, California Department of Transportation spokeswoman Cathryne Bruce-Johnson said in a statement. It is the first fossilized bison found in Southern California, she said.

The fossil will be displayed at 10:30 a.m. at the museum in Balboa Park. Museum paleontologists will demonstrate how they clean sediment from the fossil, estimated to be about 200,000 years old, Bruce-Johnson said.

Caltrans District Director Laurie Berman and Tom Demere, the museum’s curator of paleontology, will talk about the discovery.

A California law known as the Environmental Quality Act requires developers to allow fossil researchers to collect specimens before construction is completed.

The east segment is the last of three improvement projects for the Route 76 corridor between interstates 15 and 5.

The first phase involves widening and upgrading the I-15/Route 76 interchange. Construction on that phase is scheduled to be completed next summer.